A CDC policy of deleting former employees' emails after 90 days is "probably illegal" according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Friday.
A Trump-aligned legal group, America First Legal (AFL), had requested emails from former CDC employees and was told they were deleted 90 days after they stopped being employees, which prompted them to sue the CDC.
The CDC claimed that it uses the National Archives and Records Association’s (NARA) Capstone policy for emails since it falls under the Health and Human Services (HHS) department, which does the same thing.
The CDC also claimed that the deleted records were "adequately preserved elsewhere."
The NARA policy was adopted in 2016 after the CDC said it petitioned NARA to do so, but there is no record NARA ever granted the permission.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s politicization of records management must end, and we look forward to holding them accountable for their illegal actions in all such circumstances,” AFL’s Executive Director Gene Hamilton said in a press release.
The AFL wanted the records due to the agency's support for teaching gender ideology in the classroom.
After obtaining the CDC document “LGBTQ Inclusivity in Schools: A Self-Assessment Tool,” the AFL sued HHS and NARA in April.
Contreras has now ordered the CDC to stop deleting employees' emails until the previous deadline under GRS 6.1 had passed or until the court ordered that they could do so.
“This is another historic courtroom victory for America First Legal against widespread government corruption,” AFL President Stephen Miller and former advisor to President Trump stated.
/1🚨BREAKING🚨
We just secured a preliminary injunction in our lawsuit against the Biden-Harris CDC for illegally deleting employees’ emails.
The National Archives and Attorney General Garland must now work to recover illegally deleted records and make CDC comply with the law: pic.twitter.com/OsYByavu06
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) August 9, 2024
AFL said it would continue to hold agencies accountable and pursue justice through the courts.
It probably won't stop the CDC from continuing to encourage the teaching of gender ideology in classrooms.
But it may at least make them be up front about it.
